ISIL Launches Chlorine Gas Attacks, Iraqi Official Says

The so-calledIslamic State militants used chlorine gas, banned by the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) in 1997, during attacks in areas near the Iraqi city of Ramadi.

Farhan Mohammed, a member of Anbar’s Provincial Council, told the Iraqi News Gazette:

"Today, elements of the ISIS (ISIL) group have shelled some of the security checkpoints and residential areas in Ramadi with chlorine gas-imbued bombs."

Following the attacks, several cases of chemical suffocation were reported, Ramadi’s security forces said.

This wasn’t the first time the so-called Islamic State has used chlorine gas against its enemies. Last month, Iraqi officials said the fake jihadists used chlorine in roadside bomb attacks.

Exactly one hundred years ago, German troops used chlorine gas for the first time against the Allied forces. The gas turned soldiers blind and caused them to vomit and choke, destroying their lungs. The use of chlorine gas in warfare was banned by the CWC treaty in 1997.

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon, a former head of chemical and biological weapons for the British Army and NATO, said there is a high possibility that ISIL could launch attacks on the London underground with chlorine gas, the International Business Times reported.

“It is very evident that ISIS are putting much time and effort into training its fake jihadists in the use of chlorine as a terror weapon and in particular in IEDs (improvised explosive devices),” Bretton Gordon said.